The Industrialist
Callum Abernathy,' '''also known as '''the Industrialist', was Callum's first persona on Weirdocraft. She was seen on Weirdocraft: Map 1 , which spanned from September 2016 to December 4th 2016. The Story Early Life Callum Abernathy was born in the town of Whimsy on July 4th, 1898 AB. She had a happy childhood there before the family relocated to Niernen when she was ten years old. An inventor from a young age, Callum spent her teenager years tinkering with materials she'd get from the nearby scrapyard. It was in those years that she created the prototypes for what would one day become the Erilyn Rail System. When she turned eighteen, Callum was appointed the sheriff of Niernen by family friend and town mayor, Frost. She held the position for only three weeks, setting the record for shortest time as sheriff in the town's history. She quit when she found an investor for her technology, a wealthy young businessman named Kastro Kingdoms. Rise to Prominence With the funding to do what she wanted, Callum rented an old building in central Niernen and the Queen Corporation was born! She immediately threw herself into her work, experimenting with magnets and metals. Within a year she and her team had successfully perfected the magnetized rail system, which was purchased by the Erilyn government for their large and expanding city. This purchase repaid Kastro's original investment and allowed the Queen Corporation to stand on it's own feet. With the company's sudden success, Callum found that the business side was taking away from her time to invent and experiment. She brought in run the day-to-day operations of the company while she focused on the work and the science. A few more years of successful sales and inventions, and the Queen Corporation had become the leading body when it came to technology and advancements. The three major cities in the world had bought her inventions to better their city: Erilyn was connected like never before using her rail system, Dawnvale had installed magnetic landing stations for their airships, and Bilgewater was constructing underwater tunnels to connect them to the mainland. But Callum’s greatest accomplishment (at least in her eyes) came when she was twenty-three years old. She took a break from work for the first time in years, and commissioned the creation of the grand Elendi Hotel, a massive quartz building erected at the edge of Bilgwater County. The hotel opened in 1921 AB and became Callum’s permanent residence, splitting her time between it and her manor, Villa Villekulla. This was also the time when Callum and Kastro started dating, becoming the hottest gossip in the world. They were, in their own right, the closest the world had to celebrities. Before the War In the last week of 1924 AB, a Queen Corporation warehouse was attacked and all the contents stolen. This included magnetization technology and several prototype plasma blasters, which at the time were going to be the "next big thing" in metal cutting technology. Callum dealt with the fallout from the theft from QC Headquarters in Niernen, but the perpetrators were never caught. It was a few weeks later, in February of 1925 AB, that Borderside Prison was attacked and all the prisoners escaped. As authorities struggled to figure out what had happened, no one connected the Queen Corporation robbery to the jailbreak. It wasn't until May 1st, 1925 AB that the connection became clear, when a small army made up of the former convicts made their first strike against the town of Whimsy. The walls of the town crumbled beneath the power of the plasma blasters. The entire town was decimated that night, with few survivors. In a matter of hours, Whimsy was wiped out of the history books. That was also the night that Kastro Kingdoms vanished from the public eye. As Whimsy burned and the world reacted, the man who had become so important in Callum's life, quietly walked away into the night. The War Kastro the Conqueror and his army ravaged the countryside, using the weapons they stole from the Queen Corporation to fuel their cause. The morning after that first strike against Whimsy, Kastro's message went global. A video surfaced and was played on all major news networks. Kastro, standing at the former Whimsy Wall as the town burns behind him, tells his story. "I'm sure you all know who I am," the video said, "and if you don't, then you're about to. From this moment on, I'm Kastro, your supreme leader. You may reject me, you might even fight against me in the war I'm sure is to follow, but believe me when I say you won't win. Whimsy is my warning to the world. I am coming, I will not be stopped, I will take your cities and your land and you will bow before me. And if you don't, then say hello to the residents of Whimsy for me when you join them in Hell." The video, the proclamation he made, shook the entire world. But it shook no one more than it did Callum. Confused, heartbroken, and betrayed, Callum delved deep into Kastro's files, finding out just how long his betrayal had been going on for. It started just weeks ''after they first established the Queen Corporation in Niernen. He'd been skimming off the top, taking profits and having technology shipped to secret warehouses all around the world. He'd been amassing power since the beginning of their professional relationship, and it meant one thing... it meant that the reason he invested in her in the first place was because he wanted to use her. He had the money to bankroll his twisted plan, but he needed more. He needed an inventor. He needed someone he could exploit to create new technology, someone who would push him to the forefront of the world's technology market so no one could stand against him when he finally went rogue. He needed Callum. So he took what he wanted. It was in that moment, as she poured over the records that proved her foolishness, that she made a decision. Kastro needed her to create his army, an army so technologically advanced that no town or city could stand against him. And he got what he wanted, no ''town ''could stand against him. But she could. She invented that technology, mothered it into creation. She could create more. She would create more. She'd arm the world with weapons more advanced than he'd ever dream of, and he'd lose. She'd see to it that he'd lose. As the war fully spread out across the world, several of the larger cities began gathering their forces together. Erilyn, the largest city in the world, sent their own troops out to fight against Kastro's army, which itself was still growing with every passing day. For two years the power struggle between the world and Kastro continued. It seemed, for everything the world did to curb his efforts, Kastro would come back with something else, some new plan. It wasn't until the loss of Bilgewater that the tables turned. As Kastro claimed the pirate city as his own, the scales tipped in his favor. Over the next few months, Kastro claimed more and more towns, and his armies occupied more space. His power was growing too fast to stop. Bilgewater was the first domino that cleared his path to victory. Callum spent the last two years doing her best to create new technology to help the world fight against him. Niernen was taken by Kastro early in the war, forcing her to flee the city as his armies swept the streets. Before she left her office, and all of her work behind, she ignited a small fire in the basement near the heating system. As she slipped into the forest outside town, along with others fleeing into the night, an explosion rang out. She looked back just in time to see the Queen Corporation logo be engulfed by flame. Her heart ached, but she felt pride in that moment too. She killed her baby rather than let Kastro take it by force and keep using it in his quest for power. It was out of her manor, Villa Villakeula, that Callum created her weapons. She'd design something and have the plans shipped to her last remaining factory in Erilyn to be produced. The other factories Kastro had dismantled as he claimed the towns they lived in. She created electric gloves, fiery swords, and other tools that harnessed both science and magic. She'd never dealt with magic before, her entire life she'd spent focused on the science, the math and the technology. But in this time of crisis, she turned to magic to help. She wasn't alone. People were embracing the old magical ways to help all over the world. But magic, for the most part, is a lost art. Ever since the Immortals vanished from the world several hundred years before, science had replaced it. It was by pure luck that Callum created the most useful device. It was a shield, or barrier, that harnessed power from the sun to channel the magic in the air to create an impenetrable force field around any location. She perfected this technology as best she could before sending it to her factory in Erilyn to be mass-produced. The timing on this invention wasn't great, since it was near the end of the war and Kastro had already seized more than 70% of the world's towns. However, the device was used heavily in Erilyn and went on to travel cross-country to Dawnvale. Because of this, Erilyn and Dawnvale became the last two great strongholds in the war. Callum relocated to the Elendi Hotel after her barrier device was put to use, keeping a couple for herself, just in case. The hotel had been converted into a place for displaced refugees to stay on their way to either Erilyn or Dawnvale, since the hotel was almost directly between the two cities. It was a couple weeks after arriving that word reached her: Kastro was coming for the hotel, and his soldiers were only a couple miles away. She knew the importance of the work that the hotel was doing and Kastro knew it too. Callum ordered an immediate evacuation of the hotel through the drainage tunnels and activated a shield around the building for extra protection, and to buy them more time. When the army arrived at the hotel gates, they pounded against the barrier. Luckily most of the hotel was evacuated by then. Callum watched as Kastro himself appeared on the front line. She stood in the big bay window above the entrance and watched him, and he watched her back. It was the first time they'd seen each other face-to-face in almost three years. This was the man she had once loved. The man who believed in her, invested in her, made love to her. But at the same time, it ''wasn't ''that man. It wasn't that man who listened to her while she cried, or bought her that rare piracy book she had her eye on, or got up early with her in the mornings to watch the sunrise even though he wasn't a morning person. That man never really existed. It was a ploy to keep her sweet. No, the man in front of her now was a warlord. He was a monster. The war had aged him greatly, wore down his more delicate features into something hardened. He was empty, hollow, and she could see it in his eyes. She could see that lust for power and dominance that had always been there but everyone had mistaken for regular drive and determination, at least before the war. This was Kastro the Conqueror, and no one else. The Cannon Kastro had been developing a super weapon since the war began. It was a bastardized version of the plasma blaster, but much larger, and powered by Nether Stars, the most powerful magical items in the entire world. Nether Stars, despite their immense power, were docile objects. They weren't used for anything other than decoration and only showed their true power when broken. A single star could create a large crater when cracked or damaged, maybe more if shattered entirely. Fortunately, Nether Stars were the strongest material in the known world, and doing so was impossible. That is, until Kastro created his weapon. The plasma blaster, when tweaked, was strong enough to break through a Nether Star's shell, damaging it and releasing the power inside the star. The super weapon was designed to do this to multiple stars at once and then redirect the energy out as a beam. Through this, Kastro created an energy cannon, capable of destroying anything... including shields designed to keep him out. He used it on the Elendi Hotel as a test run. Seconds after Callum vanished from the window he ordered the cannon to be brought forward. It was pushed to through the crowd and aimed at the hotel. The cannon activated and a bright purple beam of pure energy erupted from it's shaft. The beam slammed into the shield, causing the ground around them to shake. The hotel itself, shuddered. It only took a few seconds for Callum's shield to burn away, completely obliterated by the cannon. They claimed the Elendi Hotel that night, and from there, Dawnvale was next. That made Erilyn the last great stronghold, the last hold out in the war. It also made it Kastro's final mark to victory. The End of the War Kastro arrived outside Erilyn with his cannon. The people of Erilyn watched in horrified silence as the device slowly activated, glowing a bright purple color. The only advantage they had was that Callum arrived a few days earlier to warn them of Kastro's super weapon. The city was made aware, and waited, holding their weapons. Callum had made sure all the weapons she had leftover in her factory were distributed. There wasn't one citizen of the city without something to fight with. The second the shield protecting came down, the city of Erilyn would fight for it's freedom, win or lose. It was all they could do. The cannon fired. A bright purple beam slammed against the barrier. The entire city quaked from the force. Eyes watched as the barrier started to rip, and burn, and fade away. The shield around the city flickered a few times before disappearing entirely. Erilyn was on it's own. A second cannon blast destroyed the wall around the city. It punctured through the stone like nothing. Kastro's army surged forward, flooding into the streets. The citizens of Erilyn, the refugees displaced by the war, and everyone else, rushed forward brandishing their own weapons. The two forces met and the bloodshed began. Callum was on the street, swinging an electric sword at anyone who came near her wearing Kastro's uniform. She managed to cut down two soldiers in the first few minutes alone. No one there was trained to fight, but it was ''the ''fight, so they fought nonetheless. They had to. It didn't matter if they died trying, because if Kastro won, they'd basically be dead already. Meanwhile, Kastro kept firing his cannon at the city, destroying whole buildings on the skyline. Callum was surprised, she had expected him to join the fight on the ground. She ''expected ''that of him. Instead, he'd chosen to hide behind his cannon and win the war that way. She wasn't sure why, but it filled her with rage. Maybe a part of her thought that they'd have one final showdown on the streets of Erilyn, where she could confront him for all the horrible things he's done to her. Not for the war, but what he'd done to ''her. He used her, manipulated her, and made her an unwilling accomplice in the creation of the war. He decimated her hometown, he took her hotel. Maybe it was selfish, but she thought that she was important enough to get that final showdown with him. The cannon fire stopped at some point. The people on the streets kept fighting regardless, but the city was no longer being blown to pieces. It was a while later that a voice came over the Erilyn speaker system, announcing the end of the fight. "Kastro has been taken down," the voice said. Despite this, the fighting didn't stop. The sun was rising on the horizon but the fighting kept going. It wasn't until several of Kastro's soldiers were seen running out of the city that people started to slow down. Bodies lined the roads, and anyone left standing looked exhausted, but... the fighting had stopped. Unbeknownst to Callum, and anyone outside of Erilyn leadership, but a small team was assembled and sent to the ruins of the Immortal City with the task of reawakening the Immortals. They were successful in their quest, and the Immortals swooped down from the sky to capture Kastro. It was 1928 AB, and with the war over, the world felt lost for a long time. Callum especially ''felt lost. She'd lost everything and had no real life to go back to. The head office of her company was destroyed, her factories were dismantled by Kastro, and her homes had all been violated to some degree. The only thing she had to look forward to was Kastro's execution, and she wasn't alone. The world waited with held breath for Kastro's end. For many, the war wouldn't truly be over until he was dead. They couldn't heal until then. Callum attended the execution. A friend of hers, who was one of the guards, allowed her to have a few minutes alone with him. "You're a monster," she had said. "You ravaged the world and killed many. You destroyed so much. You can't be forgiven for your crimes... but I'm not here because of the war. I wish I were, it'd be so easy to hate you for all of that. And I do. But I'm here because you hurt me. You used me. You manipulated me. And that's not okay. But you're essentially going to die tonight, and I need you to know how much I hate you for what you did to me. I also want you to know that, one day, I'm going to move on. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to die an old woman, warm in my bed, surrounded by my loved ones in a world that doesn't have you in it. I'm going to heal from you. So is the world. That's my comfort in all this. You don't get comfort, not anymore. Rot in hell, Kastro." After, she watched as the Immortals dropped Kastro into the void of the End, doomed to live out the remainder of his existence in perpetual falling through the vast nothingness. There would be no more light, no more sound, no more stillness for him. He'd fall until he dies, and forever after. Later Life After the war, Callum donated half of her fortune to rebuilding the world. It was invested into many of the smaller towns so they could reestablish themselves. Half of ''that ''remaining fortune, Callum used to turn the decimated town of Whimsy into a memorial for all that was lost in the war. Once the world stabilized some, Callum reopened the Queen Corporation, but decided to take a backseat and let someone else run the day-to-day operations. Someone more trustworthy, and with limited power. She would not allow herself to be played again, especially since the last time had major worldwide repercussions. She retired to the Elendi Hotel, restoring it to the glamour it once held before the war, and continued to invent. Pink Diamond's Interference In 1930 AB, a portal opened in the upper hallway of the Elendi Hotel. Callum, who was heading to the lido deck, was sucked inside without warning. That portal was actually a rift through dimensions, a tear in the fabric of reality, created by Pink Diamond. The rift was meant to find a new version of White Diamond in an alternate universe, but it instead drew in different versions of Callum. Callum awoke laying in a savanna field. After wandering through the strange new land, she eventually met up with two women who looked ''exactly like her, Killer Frost and Queen Callum respectively. The trio made their way to the Pink Empire, which loomed over the horizon. There they officially met Pink Diamond, who explained her tragic backstory, and revealed the truth that many different versions of one person can exist in alternate universes. The four of them just happen to be an instance of that occurrence. With some reluctance, Pink Diamond sent the three versions of herself back through the rift she created, and back to their respective universes. Non-Canon Future I always pictured that Callum Abernathy dies in the Elendi hotel, an old woman, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She never married, not after the whole affair with Kastro, but she adopted three children that were displaced after the war and raised them in the hotel. It was like the entire staff was their family.